The issue appears to have resolved for most. Some, however, still report having issues.

Earlier this month, a large number of businesses – particularly many in the wine and beverage alcohol industries – were notified that Facebook would no longer be recommending their pages. The notification stated that they “didn’t play by the rules” and that page recommendations were therefore “suspended.” No explanation was given, other than a violation of “Community Standards,” described as “high-level rules against sexual, violent, profane, or hateful content.”

Almost three weeks later, the issue appears to have resolved for most. In the interim, Meta added an avenue for appeal on January 17. A Meta representative also confirmed to Northwest Wine Report that there was a technical issue that caused some accounts to receive notifications stating that their pages were not eligible for recommendation. The company believes that the issue has been addressed, with a fix that began to roll out Wednesday, January 21. Meta also apologized for the confusion that the notifications caused.

In an informal poll conducted by Northwest Wine Report after that date, 90% of businesses that responded said that their page recommendations had been restored. Ten percent said that their page recommendations were still suspended. The latter included businesses whose appeals were denied and those still waiting for a decision. (Note: Respondents were heavily weighted toward the wine industry.)

Some businesses, however, appear to be in Facebook algorithm limbo. Their page recommendations have cycled between recommended and suspended several times – sometimes across days, hours, or even minutes.

“Talk about a roller coaster!” one business owner said.

It’s not clear whether this is related to the initial page recommendation suspension issue – which, again, Meta believes that it has fixed – is something different, or, in some cases, is user error. In terms of the latter, some businesses, for example, may not have age restrictions properly set.

A number of businesses reported receiving notifications that their page recommendations would not be restored after requesting a review. However, when they checked their pages, the pages stated that they were being recommended again. This caused confusion.

“Makes zero sense,” one person said.

One business owner had their page recommendations restored and then received a notification stating that their business would no longer be recommended to people under 18. This was despite the page settings already marked as “alcohol-related,” which would mean that the page would not be shown to people under 18 anyway.

As previously reported, some businesses said that their age restrictions were removed immediately prior to their recommendations being suspended earlier this month. The notification said that this was done at their request, though it was not. Some have also stated that their page settings were changed from “21+” to “alcohol-related,” though Northwest Wine Report has not been able to confirm this.

Facebook adding an avenue to appeal these page recommendation suspensions on January 17 was the first indication that the company was aware of the issue. This came prior to the fix that Meta rolled out on January 21.

Many businesses that requested a review said that their page recommendations were restored shortly thereafter. Some requested a review and had it denied. Others are still waiting for a response.

A substantial number of businesses did not request a review and still had their recommendations restored. (Northwest Wine Report falls into this bucket, with page recommendations restored four days after they were suspended without any changes to page settings.) In some cases, page recommendation restorations occurred well before Meta rolled out a fix for the issue.

Since the page recommendation suspension issue began on or about January 9, businesses associated in any way with alcohol have been particularly impacted. This has included wineries, breweries, distilleries, meaderies, importers, distributors, retailers, bars, restaurants, media, marketing companies, event businesses, educators, and others. Businesses in dozens of countries on every continent except Antarctica have indicated that they were affected.

While alcohol-related businesses were particularly hard hit, businesses in other sectors also reported that their page recommendations were suspended at the same time. These include, but are not limited to, businesses in health and beauty, wellness, sports, gaming, outdoor activities, non-profits, and others. However, it’s not clear how widespread the issue was or wasn’t within those sectors.

There has been additional fallout since the issue began. After having their page recommendations suspended, some businesses added age restrictions in hopes of getting recommendations restored. (Northwest Wine Report recommended this for alcohol-related businesses if restrictions were not already properly set.) However, for some, this led to further issues.

Facebook pages with age restrictions – including the “alcohol-related” setting – are not allowed to be part of groups. As a result, without warning, businesses that added new age restrictions to their pages were removed from any groups that they were part of. In one case, a winery owner was removed from their own wine club member group, making the group inaccessible to its owner.

Since the issue began, many business owners have been confused, angry, and frustrated. One business, which has had its page recommendations cycle between suspended and restored, described the situation as “beyond aggravating.”

Many businesses felt that they were being punished by Facebook without being told why or, initially, being given a means of dispute. Even businesses paying for Meta Verified have said that agents were unable to resolve the issue prior to the review process and the technical fix being implemented.

Now, Meta has stated that the issue is resolved from the company’s perspective. It will take additional time to more fully assess what that looks like from the perspective of businesses in the wine industry and beyond.

However, for some, the issue has left a sense of deep unease. A number of business owners noted that if Facebook can take away page recommendations without cause or avenue for appeal, it could similarly take away pages entirely. As Facebook is mission critical to many businesses, this has caused some to rethink how tied they want to be to Facebook and to other social media platforms.

“[Our company] has invested tons of time and effort into social media,” one impacted business owner told Northwest Wine Report. “We are taking a big pause and reflecting on a much different approach to how we will utilize it going forward.”

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Are page recommendations still suspended for your business? If so, please leave a comment here or contact us.

Read previous articles about the Facebook page recommendation suspension issue.

Meta changes sow confusion, concern in wine industry (January 11, 2026)

What’s going on at Meta? (January 14, 2026)

On Facebook page recommendations (January 15, 2026)

Meta’s silence on page recommendation suspensions deafening (January 16, 2026)

Facebook shows signs of life (sort of) with page recommendation issue (January 18, 2026)

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